Man Leaps 50 Feet To His Death Off Coleman Bridge

December 31, 2008|By CORY NEALON, cnealon@dailypress.com 757-247-4760

GLOUCESTER — A man jumped 50 feet to his death Tuesday morning from the George P. Coleman Bridge.

The man was found on the asphalt near Gloucester Point Beach Park. He was dead when emergency workers arrived, said Sgt. Scott Little of the Gloucester County Sheriff's Office. The man's name was not released Tuesday.

According to witnesses, the man was driving south, from Gloucester to Yorktown, when he stopped in the right lane around 9:15 a.m. He then jumped off the northwest side of the bridge, landing about 75 feet from the York River.

The incident prompted authorities to close one southbound lane of the bridge while they investigated the scene.

An autopsy was scheduled in Richmond to determine the exact cause of death, Little said.

Suicides from the bridge are rare, Little said.

"It's been a long time - it's been years," he said. "I can't even remember the last time."

According to Daily Press records, there was a rash of attempted suicides from 1994 to 1995. Authorities reported saving four people who jumped into the river during a nine-month span.

Tuesday's suicide is the second in five days near the bridge.

Former Gloucester County Sheriff Robin P. Stanaway was found dead Friday at Riverwalk Landing in Yorktown of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Stanaway - Gloucester's top law enforcement officer from 1987 to 2007 - had been battling cancer.

It's common for people to link an increase in suicides with the holiday season, but Calvin Nunnally Sr., suicide prevention manager with the state Department of Health, said that is not true.

"It's a myth," he said.

Nunnally said most suicides occur between April and May. However, he said, people can experience a heightened sense of depression or loneliness during the holidays.

WHERE TO GET HELP

If you are feeling suicidal, Virginia's Suicide Prevention Resource Center recommends calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.